Monday, February 3, 2014

Salt Fish Girl by Larissa LaiThe Eye in the Door by Pat BarkerRegeneration by Pat BarkerThe Northern Clemency by Philip HensherThe Goldfinch by Donna TarttFind a Victim by Ross MacDonaldThe Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole A Game of Hide and Seek by Elizabeth TaylorCold Moon over Babylon by Michael McDowell Madness: A Brief History by Roy PorterFrost in May by Antonia WhiteThe Ghost Road by Pat Barker
(about 1/3 of Eleanor Catton's The Luminaries)

2014 is going to be a year in which I try and read more women, more people of color, more queer writers, and less straight white cis males. This means I'll probably be reading more books published by Virago as well as less Western specific stuff. This month is mostly English people. Notice that the two buzz-iest books of 2013 (The Luminaries and The Goldfinch) appear on here; their general acclaim seems warranted, I believe. Only three straight white cis males appear on this list (Walpole, MacDonald, and Porter) while Hensher and McDowell are both queer.

I'm also going to list books read by month, rather than whenever I have assembled a list of more than two. 2013 was a year of very little reading and great personal change. I plan to read more this year and I'm making excellent progress. But like any pronouncement I make in January, caveat emptor as I might tire of the project and read a month's worth of Victorian lit.

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This is a blog by me that's pretty much for me as I have no readers. I try and write things and think critically about stuff. I am totally embarrassed by the quality of writing and thinking from 2013 and earlier.